About Us
What is an Optimist?
“a flat-bottomed, hard-chine, pram-bow dinghy with a una spritsail”
(The Observer’s Book of Small Craft)
“a bathtub that breeds the best sailors”
(Observant Sailor at the Club Bar)
- 2.31m (7′6.1/2″) long, 1.13m (3′8″) wide.
- Weight 35kg (77lbs)
- Easily transported on top of any car, (where it will drip water over your shiny paintwork!)
- Safe and simple enough for an 8-year old
- Exciting and technical enough for a 15-year old
- Available in GRP, wood or wood/epoxy
Why the Optimist?
- Optimists are designed for kids.
- They can handle them without danger, fear or back-strain Single-handed is best.
- They didn’t learn to ride a bike on a tandem!
- Over 150,000 kids in over 100 countries cannot be wrong
- The Optimist is not only the biggest dinghy class in the world, it is the fastest growing
- The only dinghy recognised by the ISAF* exclusively for under 16s [*the world organising body for sailing]
- Former Optimist Sailors were over 50% of the dinghy skippers at the last Olympics